Milestone

Bye Mom!

It's not the first day of school, that's next week, but this is a big day to be sure! This is the first day that my big boy got on the bus by himself. He is off to his half-day "kindergarten camp" where they give the kids a bit of a preview before they jump into everyday school life with all the other students.

I suppose the first day of school would be the more obvious choice for blog fodder but to me this is the big one. The first time he goes solo, that is without me, he does know at least one little boy who shares our bus stop so he isn't completely "alone". I rode the bus with him yesterday for the first day of kindergarten camp, he hugged me so many times I couldn't tell if it was from excitement or nervousness. He does hug a lot when he's excited. His little emotions just bubble up and he gets all snuggly. I have to say that is something I hope he doesn't totally lose as he grows. I know it'll wane of course but I have my fingers crossed that at home, out of sight of classmates and friends, that I will always get big hugs from my boy.

Today I am feeling anxious/excited for him. I think he is feeling something similar. I never thought moms were silly for crying when they drop their kids off at kindergarten for the first time but I didn't ever consider that I would feel so much emotion over this. I'm not sad that he's gone for the day, I'm really excited for all he'll do and learn. . . I just want him to like it and be happy. I'm nervous that he will be nervous or scared or feel lost in the midst of all this. . . newness. He did brilliantly at preschool and has always rolled with the punches and done well (aside from dealing with his own mistakes, he's a bit of a perfectionist) so I probably shouldn't worry. It's just that school is really . . . big. And he isn't.

Blog, resurrected

Aaaaand we're back. I never thought putting the computer in the basement could make blogging so very difficult to get to. We finally moved it to the main floor of our not-so-new-anymore house and here we are. Since March we've done a lot of hanging out, some vacationing, a bunch of visiting family, and a very small bit of swimming/splashing. We also got a dog who is turning out bigger than we expected but just as loving and fun as we'd hoped. All in all life is good and we are enjoying this new place and new season of life as semi-permanent Virginians. I am not exactly a fan of the humidity when the temperature starts to rise so I am quite looking forward to fall and we are all excited for school to start. Rowan is very excited that he will begin Kindergarten (five full days a week, yikes) and Katie gets to start pre-school (three mornings a week). She is of course very excited too!

In honor of this milestone I have decided to start a family tradition. The idea is to go somewhere and do something really fun just before school starts. This year, with our "rising" Kindergartener and pre-schooler, our big exciting outing was...

It is a small, roadside attraction about an hour west of us that we've been to before and it is really great for little ones.



We got up (sort of) early and let our puppy Rob out for a stretch and a bit of a run around before he would be cooped up (no dogs at dinosaurland, sorry Rob)

The drive flew by thanks to Thomas the tank engine and his friends. Before they knew it we'd arrived!

Mr.Pteranodon greeted us

The girls were slightly nervous to go inside the shark. Last time we visited Logan went in with them to help bolster their bravery. This time it fell to Rowan to coax them in. He did a great job!

Gotta be quick or smiling Katie turns to goofy Katie

Evie really enjoyed her freedom today! It was her first trip to Dino'land out of the stroller.

Our brave boy!

 

Lil miss book worm was "reading" all the words on this sign

 More dino posing...

*smooch!*

Kick line!

Katie wanted to take one of me...

Last time we came Katie's experience with King Kong was... a bit traumatic. This time 'round she did pretty good. Until she looked too long at his face and felt unsure all over again.








Luckily they were all brave enough to sit while I snapped a few shots :)

This first shot here is one of my favorite shots from our previous visit. My thought was to recreate the scene so we could compare the sizes of the kids etc. Unfortunately the time of day was clearly different, my lens was dirty (didn't notice that until I got home), and this dino friend is at the end of the circuit which means everyone was getting hungry and antsy to browse the gift shop not to mention doing the "potty dance". But it's still cute and you can still see how the kids have changed and grown (especially Evie). So here you go . . .

May 2012

August 2013

We then perused the gifts and each kid picked out their special item. Rowan found a toy bow and arrow set, Katie a flashlight with slides, and Evie chose two plastic dinosaurs (her love of animals definitely extends to the extinct variety). I'm so glad we went today, it'll be interesting to see if this actually turns into a tradition or if we just buy ice cream next year, haha. I'm optimistic that it will thrive.


I don't think I will go back and unearth many picture from the last few months. Even though I want this blog to be about keeping you all up to date on the kids and our lives "abroad" I'm not going to backtrack too much, I can't quite manage the mental energy or time for it right now. I think the time has come for me to plant my feet, take a deep breath, and stride confidently into a new chapter of this blog. So here's to a new blogging start, a new scholastic season of life, and (*hopefully* before too long) a chill in the air and a fire in my fireplace!

Not forgotten...

In case anyone is curious, I haven't forgotten this little blog. It's just that we didn't do much last month then right at the end of the month we got quite busy. We bought a house, moved, and celebrated Katie's 3rd birthday! Here are a few shots I managed to take amid the "chaos" ;)

 Picnic-ing in the empty new house

 Lucky Evie studies her quite large slice of pizza 

(Aunty was quite generous!)

 A few inches of the white stuff makes a new yard even more exciting!

 Rowan helping paint his room

 Thank you Dad for getting new swings!

 Silly Evie didn't want to come and play this day, she just sat herself in the grass and smiled.

 So Mama sat down and cuddled 

(Photo a la Katie)

 Snack time at the favorite window 

(there is a bird feeder out there with many colorful customers a day)

 Meals are much nicer with furniture

 The birthday decor

 Good morning little Miss 3!

 Evie thinks it's pretty hilarious to wear Mom's boots

 Crazy games with cousins and friends in the basement

 Sassy girl and her cake 

(she picked it out all by herself!)

 Buddies

 Gifts!!

 The next day a very grown up three year old Katie shows off her multitasking

Checking out all the nooks and crannies of the new house one at a time.

Finally, this one is from today. I got the girls new dresses for Easter and we had a fashion show. Long sleeves and socks/leg warmers were just for the chilly weather today. We're hoping for a bit of a warm up before Easter... we'll see I guess.

Well, there you go. A quick update. Hopefully I can get my feet under me soon and show you all more pictures of our adventures. I hope February found you in good health and good cheer and that March is more of the same.

God bless you!

One more thing...

After I read my big January post to Rowan and Katie (my unofficial blog critics) Rowan insisted that I take a special picture for him so we could add this little bit to our "January Happenings".

Without further ado, here's Rowan's addition.

Rowan is really into the Bakugan's secret things! :)

January happenings

  We weren't much for revelry this December 31st. Most of the day consisted of flying back east so the evening, though late by east coast clocks, was an early one for us and we were abed by 9pm west coast time. We did hear fireworks but by that time the kids were asleep and we were headed that way as well. I'm not too sad but next year I'd like to get the kids some horns and confetti (I'm "stealing" your awesome idea Cherise!)

No resolutions here either (I know, we're boring). We have however been able to get out and about a few times this month which wasn't specifically intentional but I do feel good about!

Cool kids

Our first outing of the year was to the school playground down the road.

Rowan can't ride or push his bike well enough yet so he got "sister duty"

 I love playing at school playgrounds, they have fun playthings and space to run and ride!

 Of course, there's the barkdust... a favorite of Evie's.

One of the more exciting things underway this month is the purchase of a house. We are still in the process of sorting out finances so nothing is set in stone yet. Hence the small "preview" shot of the house. We're quite excited as things look to be going well. More to come on
 this one next month!

 Outgrowing and hand-me-downs...

After our first outing of the year we decided Rowan's trouble on his bike was due to it being much too small for him. We remedied this with the purchase of a sweet new red bike!

Katie was quite pleased with the new purchase as she got Rowan's old bike! It's a bit smaller than her current bike and a better fit for her little legs and with a few special additions it is a perfect fit for her girlish sensibilities as well!

A perfect "little sister" bike

An awesome pose for an awesome new bike!

 As we suspected a properly sized bike (with all important hand brake) has done wonders for his form and confidence.

Of course we can't just ride at the playground. Not when there are slide to slide and games to play!

Big brother is a good spinner!

 The local scene

 Before we moved to Virginia we decided that if we ever moved to the east coast we would try to get out and experience the local history that we don't have out west. Our favorite spot these days is the Battlefield National Park about 30 min west of us in Manassas. It's pretty big but you can easily enjoy it bit by bit. Last Sunday we wandered the stone bridge that spans Bull Run.

"Oh man!"

(Rowan's response to the news of the bridge's destruction in 1862)

We stopped at this sign before getting to the bridge. Logan read it to Rowan who was pretty disappointed to hear that the confederate forces had blown up the bridge (thinking that we had missed our chance to walk across it)

 Luckily for him it wasn't a permanent thing . . .

The view to the north

 Past the bridge the have a cool raised walkway leading to more battle sites.

Katie was a bit too cold to smile big

 We didn't venture too far that day, it was pretty chilly and we'd forgotten gloves. So back to the bridge we went.

 The bit of walking warmed Katie Kates up enough to pose for a picture . . . I think she was a super hero.

 Wednesday Rowan went on his very first school fieldtrip. He and his preschool classmates got to see behind the scenes at Cici's Pizza and even got to make their very own pizza!

 First snowfall

 We didn't see much snow last year. This year, though colder, hasn't been very white either. Until recently. It's all but melted now but for one day we had a bit of "real winter".

 Luckily our winter clothes weren't packed away too deep and we pulled them out for some chilly fun!

"I'll catch you Evie!"

"I caught her!"

Goofy little miss

 Evie is finally getting the hang of cheesing for the camera! (Now if I could just get all three to smile cheesy smiles at once I'd have an even cuter picture!)

Daredevil Kates

Another silly superhero (I think she's flying)

Now I know where Evie gets it!

 I am so pleased with our little bowling set! I got it on an off season clearance back when Rowan was about Evie's age. It's held up pretty well aside from needing some fresh paint.

 Katie's wasn't quite grasping the "aiming" part of the game so after a couple bowls she helped the pins down a bit closer.

 Evie's gloves were AWOL that day so she was stuck with oversized cotton stretch gloves that I kept replacing as they got cold and wet. It's a good thing we have a few! Unfortunately for her they didn't help her bowling skills. She did get the pins down eventually, I think the last couple might have been kicked down but you do what you have to do when you're number three!












Later on, after we'd come in and warmed up I heard a strange noise coming from the basement. I found Evie holding a toy tiger and after some initial confusion I realized what she was saying. Delighted I found the camera and recorded it because... well, how could you not want to save this to watch again later?